London Heathrow Airport increased revenue by 2.1 per cent year-on-year to reach £825 million in the first quarter, despite passenger traffic falling slightly compared with the same period in 2024.
The UK’s hub airport catered for 18.2 million passengers from 1 January to the end of March – down by 1.6 per cent from 18.5 million during Q1 of 2024.
The airport’s figures were impacted by the outbreak of a fire at an electricity substation that caused Heathrow to suspend operations for 10 hours on 21 March, as well as the later timing of Easter this year.
Heathrow said its higher revenue in Q1 was “driven by more long-haul flying, and improved property and retail income”. It also highlighted new routes to Cancun in Mexico, Ottawa in Canada and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia as continuing this trend in summer 2025.
The airport’s adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) rose by 2.5 per cent year-on-year to £454 million in the first quarter, compared with £443 million in the same quarter of 2024.
In a statement, the airport added that work “continues at pace” on its proposals for a third runway, which it plans to present to the UK government by the summer.
“Our plans would be entirely privately funded and have the potential to kickstart economic growth across the whole of the UK from construction through to operation,” said Heathrow.
“Depending on the government’s response, we would aim to meet their ambition to secure planning permission in this parliament and for the runway to be operational by 2035.
“New capacity would boost competition and choice for consumers, drive economic growth for the UK and improve operational resilience at the UK’s hub airport.”